Machine for repairing knitted fabrics



Aug. 11, 1931. I A. c. PARLINII 1,818;747

MACHINE FOR REPAIRING KNITTED FABRICS Filed April 12, 1950 2sheets-sheet 1 951 aum s Aug. 11, 1931. A. c. PARLINI ,8

MACEINE FOR REPAIRING KNITTED FABRICS Filed April 12, 1930 2Sheets-Sheet 2 mmqwgu llllllll Patented Aug. 11, 1931 UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE ALE NDER o. PARLINI, or woonsrnn, NEW yorax, ASSIGNOB 'roGOTHAM K vrr Ac MACHINE CORPORATION, or new YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATIONor DELAWARE MACHINE FOR REPAIRING KNITTED FABRICS Application filedApril 12, 1930.

This invention relates in general to apparatus for repairmg runs inknitted fabrics such as silk stockings.

One of the objects of this invention is the- 5" provision of-improvedapparatus for carrying out repairing operations in a rapid and efficientmanner.

v A further object of this invention contemplatesa machine of thisnature in which feedflf ing heads having spacer wheels with differentnumbers of spacing teeth may be interchangeably mounted in the machinewithout requiring any adjustment of the machine with respect to timing.1

A further object of the invention is to provide a detachable feedinghead for such a machine, which is so constructed that when it is mountedin the machine, the feeding mechanism thereof will be positioned inexact WIT alignment with the operating mechanism therefor and willperform its functions in the proper manner and without the necessity ofmakingfurther adjustments of its operating mechanism. a

These and other objects as will appear from the following disclosure aresecured by means of this invention.

The invention resides substantially in the combination, construction,arrangement and relative location of parts,'all as will be more fullydisclosed hereinafter and set'forth in the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings: I

Figure 1 is a side elevational View of the 853 complete machine with thedetachable feeder head mounted therein and with a portion of the mainstandard broken away to show the interior mechanism. V

Figure 2 is an enlarged view in side elevation of the detachable feederhead and showing the manner it is attached to an arm of the.

machine.

Figure 3 is an enlarged view in side eleva- I Serial No. 443,649.

Figure 4 is a sectional plan view on the line 44 of Figure 2.

'g 5 i a ect nal iew of F gur 2 on h lin l k ng inth ir ti n of tharrows.

h run rep r ng h no of h s inv nt1on involves generally the combinationof elements described and claimed in United States Letters Patent No,1,708,681 issued April 9, 1929 to Raymond L, Ilumley, but containscertain new improvements with respect thereto. In machine; of the typedisos in h bov m n ne pat n horo is provided a feeding head which isusually constructed as an integral part of one of the P j ct ng arm f te ho l w s and rd,

which on lo th p rating mo h ni m f the machine. Assembled in saidfeeding head is a spacer wheel which operates to space the cross threadsof the run to be repaired, and to feed said cross threads in spacedrelation, step by step to the'knitting needle which re-knits the run bylooping each of said cross threads through the succeeding one as thefabric is advanced. The feeding wheel assembled in the feeding head isdesigned and constructed so that it is only adaptable to space and feedcross threads of a run in fabricwhich are knitted of a certain ga gdisassemble the same, and replace the spacer V 80 If it is desired tousethe machine for makmg repairs in a fabric of a different gaugeofwheel forming apart thereof, with a spacer wheel having the requirednumber of teethfor properly spacing and feeding the cross threads of thedifferent gauge fabric. It is also necessary, when such a change ofspacer wheel is effected, to make certain adjustments of other workingparts of the machine so that said parts will operate in proper timedrelation with respect to the operation of the substituted spacer wheel.In addition to the above requirements it is necessaryto res.

time the movement of the spacer wheel with relation to the movement ofthe latch needle when a new spacer wheel is incorporated in the machine.i

The particular object of this invention is to provide a machine of theabove nature in which detachable feeding head assemblies having spacerwheels with different numbers of teeth may be interchangeably mounted inthe machine without requiring any adjustment of the other operatingparts of the machine.

A better understanding of the purposes of this invention and theconstruction of the apparatus by means of which they are secured will behad by detailed reference to the drawing.

The machine is shown comprising a base plate 1 having the integralvertical hollow standard 2 provided with the hollow projectingsubstantially parallel arms 3 and 4. Journaled transversely of thestandard 2 is a rotatable shaft 4 which may be driven by a 7 suitableelectric motor (not shown).

Keyed to the shaft 4 are two cams, one of which is indicated at 5. Thesecams actuate the levers 6 and 7. The cam 5 actuates lever 6. The othercam which actuates lever 7 is in back of the cam 5 and is not apparentin the drawings. Pivotally connected to the lever 6 is a lever 8 whichis shown in dotted lines in Figure 1. The lever 8 is pivotally supportedat 9 on the arm 4. The other end of lever 8 is pivotally secured to theoperating mechanism for actuating the spindle 10 in which the repairneedle 11 is secured. It will be understood that the repair needle 11has a hooked end and is provided with a latch.

Another lever 12 is pivotally secured to the lower end of lever 7 and inturn is mounted to reciprocate in the hollow arm 3 on the pivot screws13. The lever 12 has pivotally mounted at one end thereof, the pawl 19which is adapted to be held against a ratchet wheel 20 of the feederhead.

A spring pressed vertically slidable rod 14 is also mounted in the endof hollow arm 4 and has secured to it a rotatable roller 15. The rollerserves to hold the fabric being repaired against the feeding head 17 tocause it to firmly engage therewith. A spring finger 16 is also providedin the needle bar assembly and is positioned in alignment with the pathof the movement of the needle 11 and serves to hold the fabric beingrepaired firmly in place at the point of repair so that the crossthreads of the run in the fabric are held in proper spaced relation inthe teeth of the feeder wheels positioned in the feeder head 17 Thefeeder head of the machine with the feeding mechanism assembledtherewith is indicated generally at 17. In accordance with my presentinvention the feeder head instead of being integrally secured to the arm3 of the'machine is constructed as a separate unit and is adapted to bedetaohably secured to the end of arm 3. The construction of the feederhead and the manner in which it is secured to the arm 3 is as follows:

Referring particularly to Figures 3 and 5 of the drawings, the feederhead assembly comprises the side portions 21 and 22 which extend from anannular neck portion 23 and which are spaced apart so that the feedingmechanism may be mounted therebetween. The annular neck portion 21 isformed with a reduced extension 24 which is adapted to have a slidingfit in the annular recess 25 provided in the end of hollow arm 3 of themachine. The end 26 of arm 3 is adapted to abut against the shoulder 27.The shoulder 27 is so positioned that when the end of arm 3 abutsthereagainst the end of the operating arm 12 upon which the pawl 19 ismounted is in proper position to engage the ratchet wheel 20 of thefeeding mechanism.

The reduced portion 24 of the annular neck 23 is provided with a screwthreaded portion 28 adapted to receive therein the screw 29 which isformed with an eccentric head .30. The screw threaded portion 28 is alsoprovided with an opening 31 (see Fig. 4) to receive the set screw 32.

The recessed portion 25 at the end of 1101- low arm 3 is split as at 33(see Fig. 5) and is provided with the lugs 34 and .35 having theopenings 36 there through which is adapted I to receive the screw 37.The head of screw 37 is provided with the lever 38.

The recessed portion 25 is also provided with a slot 3S which is adaptedto receive the head 30, of the screw 39 which is mounted in the reducedportion 24 of the annular neck 23 of the feeder head.

The feeding mechanism which is mounted between the side portions 21 and22 of the feeder head assembly, comprises combined spacing and feedingwheels assembled into a unitary rotatable structure which is adapted touniformly space apart the successive fabric threads which cross the runin the fabric to be repaired and to hold and feed the said spacedthreads to the run repair needle. This mechanism is of the usualconstruction and consists of the following elements which are mountedbetween the side portions of the feeder head in the following manner:

Journaled in the sides 22 and 23 on a short shaft 39 is a ratchet wheel20 which lies between two parallel toothed or serrated spacer wheels 40and 41. The ratchet wheel is made of less diameter than the spacerwheels vand serves to hold them in predetermined spaced position. Lyingon each side of the spacer wheels are the members 42 and 43 which haveroughened surfaces to form a feeder wheel or wheels which cooperate withthe spring fingers 16 for the purpose of feeding the fabric beingrepaired at a predetermined rate to the needle.

In securing the feeder head assembly, the above described, to the arm 3of the machine, the reduced extension 24 of the annular neck 23 of thefeeder head is slid into the recessed portion 25 of the end of arm .3until the end of arm 3 abuts against the shoulder 27 of the feeder headassembly. This will bring the pawl 19, positioned at the end of arm 12,in alignment with and so that it will engage the ratchet Wheel 20 of thefeeder mechanism. In sliding the feeder head assembly into the recessedportion of the arm 3 the head 30 of screw 29 mounted on the reducedportion 24 is positioned so that it enters the slot 38 in the recessedportion 25. The screw 29 is mounted in the reduced extension 24 at rightangles to the feeding mechanism of the feeder head and the slot 38 islocated in the recessed portion of the arm 3 in such manner that when itreceives the head of screw 29 therein, the feeder head will bepositioned so that the feeding mechanism will be correctly aligned withthe pawl 19.

After the feeder head assembly has been positioned with respect to arm 3and so that the pawl 19 correctly engages the ratchet wheel 20, thescrew 37, which engages the lugs 34: and 35 of the recessed portion 25of arm 3, is tightened by means of the lever 38 and the feeder head issecurely locked in position with respect to the machine.

By means of this construction it can be seen that feeder heads can beprovided with spacer wheels with different numbers of teeth which areadapted to space and feed different gauge fabrics, and these feederheads can be quickly attached and detached from the ma chine and aproper alignment of the ratchet wheel of the feeding mechanism with thepawl on the operating arm 12 of the machine is accurately secured. Alsothe teeth on the spaced wheels are accurately positioned in properrelative relation with the latch needle so that proper reknitting of thefabric is secured.

In order to maintain the proper vertical relation of the slot betweenthe spacer wheels with the latch needle when the feeder head isassembled on the machine, each feeder head assembly when it isconstructed is accurately adjusted by means of the posi tioning of theeccentric head 30 of the screw 29 in the slot 38 on a master machine.The head of screw 29 is turned in the slot'38 in the said master machineuntil the correct alignment of the slot between the spacer wheels isarrived at and then the feeder head is removed from the master machineand the set screw 32 is tightened so as to fix the position of screw 29.Thereafter, when the feeder head assembly is attached to a machine it isunnecessary to make this adjustment of the spacer wheels.

It is to be understood that in the feeder head assemblies constructed inaccordance with my invention, the distance between the shoulder 27 ofthe annular neck23 and the center of shaft 39 in the respectiveassemblies is the same within reasonable limits.

On the arm 12 of the machine I have positioned a pin 12 which is soarranged adjacent to the pawl 19 that an extension 45 on the pawl willstrike against said pin and prevent the pawl from having a too extremeupward movement when released from the ratchet when a change in feedingheads is being made. It will be understood that a too free movementupwardly by reason of the action of the spring 46 would possiblyposition the pawl in such a way that it would prevent the properengagement of the pawl with the ratchet wheel on a subsequent attachmentofa new feeding head to the arm 3.

The advantages of the construction above described will, at once beapparent to those skilled in the art. I am of course, well aware,

that many changesin the. details of construction and relativearrangement of parts will readily occur to those skilled in the artwithout departing from the principles of construction and operation ofthis invention and I do not, therefore, desire to be strictly limited tothe disclosure as given for'illustrative purposes, but rather to thespirit and .scope of the invention as it has been defined in theappended claims.

What I seek to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In an apparatus of the type described, the combination comprising asupport having parallel extending hollow arms, a feeding head assemblyhaving side portions with ro- United States tatable feeding meansmounted therebetween,-

and an annular neck portion formed with a reduced extension, adapted tohave a sliding I fit with the end of one of said arms, a verticallymovable needle mounted in one of the arms of said support, means in saidsupport for actuating said needle and said feeder means in timedrelation with each other, means for detachably securing the reducedextension of said feeder head to one of said arms.

means on said reduced extension for angu-' larly adjusting said feederhead to said support to align the feeding means in correct position withrespect to the actuating means therefor and with respect to said needle.

2. In an apparatus of the type described, the combination comprising asupport,'havhead to one of said arms, means on said reduced extensionfor positioning the same with respect to said arm to bring the actua- Iting mechanism for said feeder means in cor- 5 rect engagementtherewith, and means on said reduced extension to angularly adjust saidfeeder head with respect to said arm to correctly align said feedermeans with respect to said needle.

- 3. A detachable feeding head unit, for a machine of the type describedcomprising an annular neck portion having spaced side portions extendingtherefrom, a feeding means rotatively mounted between said spaced sideportions, means for attachingsaid feeding head to the machine and meansmounted on said neck portion for angularly adjusting said feeder headwhen attached to said machine to correctly align the same with respect21) to the operating mechanism of the machine.

4. A detachable feeding head unit for a machine of the type describedcomprising an annular neck portion having spaced side portions extendingtherefrom and a reduced an- 25nular extension, feeding means rotativelymounted between said spaced side portions, means on said reduced annularextension for detachably securing said feeding head to the machine,means on said reduced extension for adjusting the position of saidfeeding means with respect to its operating mechanism.

5. A detachable feeding head unit for a machine of the type described,comprising an annular neck portion having spaced side SS -portionsextending from one end thereof, feeding means rotatively mounted betweensaid spaced side portions and comprising two spacer wheels havingtoothed peripheries, a ratchet wheel for operating said spacer flwheels, feeding wheels on the outside of each spacer wheel and a reducedannular portion extending from the other end of said neck portionadapted to be detachably connected with the machine.

48 6. A detachable feeding head unit for a machine of the type describedcomprising an annular neck portion having spaced side portions extendingfrom one end thereof, feeding means rotatively mounted between said 60spaced side portions and comprising two spacer wheels having toothedperipheries, a ratchet wheel for operating said spacer wheels, feedingwheels on the outside of each spacer wheel and a reduced annular portion7 extending from the other end of said neck portion adapted to bedetachably connected with the machine and provided with means forangularly adjusting said feeder head with respect to the operatingmechanism of 60 said machine.

- Intestimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand on this 9 day of AprilA. D., 1930. ALEXANDER C. PARLINI.

